Reel Talk: Cowboys Offense Got Back to Basics, Improved on 3rd Down in Week 15

If you're having a bad day, just remember that a bunch of people who get paid to evaluate college football players agreed that Carson Wentz was much better than Dak Prescott.

Now through week 15 in the NFL, Wentz's Eagles are eliminated from playoff contention, but Prescott's Cowboys are back on track at 12-2 following his 32 of 36 passing performance against the Bucs.

Facing persistent pressure from every angle following his second career loss to the Giants, Prescott's precision and poise against Tampa Bay was nothing short of incredible. Specifically, the Cowboys improved on third downs in this win, which we'll break down with some Reel Talk:

Cole Beasley is a match up nightmare for any defensive back in this league, and his ability to make plays is improved when he is in motion before the snap. When he goes over to the single side here, Prescott already knows he'll have the slant route to Beasley open, and with the Bucs safety biting on Elliott swinging out of the backfield this becomes a simple throw to move the chains.

Sauce.

3rd & 6 - Jason Witten and Lance Dunbar Creativity

This was really nice timing and progression from 4. Buys a small amount of time, hits 25 perfectly to convert on 3rd again. pic.twitter.com/SFHAHeSeR3

Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan, who called a great game on Sunday Night Football, has used all kinds of stack sets like this to free up targets for Prescott underneath this season. Despite plenty of criticism coming into this game, Lance Dunbar can still be effective in these roles, as he lines up behind Witten out wide here.

It is Prescott's mobility to buy an extra second and touch on this throw that gives Dunbar a chance to move the chains, but Witten also did a great job of clearing out his defender.

3rd & 1 - A Short-Yardage Rushing First Down?

I completely forgot that we saw 20 at FB with 21 behind. 3rd & 1 pickup for McFadden. I would expect to see this a lot more in the red zone. pic.twitter.com/Elt2OqmTFJ

Yes, the Dallas Cowboys, with the best offensive line in the universe, have struggled to convert on short-yardage situations in the past. While the theme for third downs in this game was that all of them were manageable in distance, this specific play design with Darren McFadden carrying the ball is worth noting.

McFadden, in his first action of 2016, saw 3 carries and gained 10 yards - making the most out of his chances while replacing Alfred Morris at RB2. With Ezekiel Elliott behind him, Tampa Bay had to be ready for Zeke to get the ball to the edge - as they were.

Instead, McFadden took the carry right behind Zack Martin, who as always made the block to give him a first down leading to a Cowboys touchdown.

3rd & 6 - Dak Making Things Happen

I was simply amazed when I watched this play unfold on film, with the end result being a Dak Prescott 15 yard scramble past midfield for a third-down conversion. It looked like Noah Spence had set up this twist against Ron Leary and Tyron Smith pretty well, but Leary recovered beautifully to stop the defensive tackle in his tracks.

Spence actually ended up getting the better penetration, but Smith's power allowed him to steer the rookie edge rusher away from his rookie quarterback just before he escaped the pocket and turned the corner.

3rd & 5 - Why not Witten?

Jason Witten had a field day working against Tampa Bay's smaller and less-physical linebackers in this game, converting this third down as one of his 10 catches.

This time using Terrance Williams' deeper in-breaking route to free himself underneath, Witten just presents a clear target for Prescott to find him in the middle of the field.

Simple. Clean. Easy. Jason Witten will be in Canton someday soon (if he ever stops catching balls like these), but for now he's here to help Prescott and the Cowboys offense get on track before the playoffs.

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It wasn't just these third down plays, but really the entirety of Prescott's work that was efficient on Sunday. Playing great complimentary football, Dallas stayed balance, didn't put too much pressure on either rookie in the backfield, and helped their surging defense with long scoring drives.

With offense like this, the Cowboys are going to be the toughest team to beat in the playoffs this season.

Tell us what you think about "Reel Talk: Cowboys Offense Got Back to Basics, Improved on 3rd Down in Week 15" in the comments below. You can also email me at Sean.Martin@InsideTheStar.com, or Tweet to me at @SeanMartinNFL!

Born January 28th, 1996- Cowboys Super Bowl XXX. Point Boro Panther, Montclair State Red Hawk, and most importantly a proud member of Cowboys Nation! I host "Upon Further Review" on 90.3 WMSC FM and wmscradio.com every Friday from 1-4 PM ET. Twitter: @SeanMartinNFL.

Takeaway Tuesday: Scott Linehan’s Job Shouldn’t Be Safe

The Dallas Cowboys didn't look like they did during their five game winning streak when they entered Lucas Oil Stadium to face a hot Indianapolis Colts team. In fact, they had one of their poorest showings of all season, failing to score a single point all game. Heading home after being shutout 23-0, there isn't much to be said about the Cowboys' performance.

Here's this week's Takeaway Tuesday. This time, instead of talking about many takeaways, I needed to get one big takeaway off my chest. I hope you enjoy. Make sure to let me know how you feel about this topic in the comments section below or tweet me @MauNFL.

Scott Linehan's Job Shouldn't Be Guaranteed Going into the Playoffs

As tough as it is to fire one of your three main coaches when your team is headed into the postseason, the Dallas Cowboys should not rule out moving on from Scott Linehan. One win away from clinching the NFC East, it's not something you easily pull off but Linehan's play calling has been terrible all year long.

The truth is, despite Dak Prescott's struggles and a disastrous offensive line, the offense shouldn't be as inefficient as it is.

Watching a unit that counts with Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and Ezekiel Elliott run a screen pass to Allen Hurns on fourth down and 14 was truly a microcosm of what this year has been for the offense.

Despite having a playoff berth practically clinched, the Cowboys should consider a change at offensive coordinator. Even if they don't fire Linehan, it's clear his play-calling is not good and could cost this team a real opportunity at a legit shot in the postseason. It would be an aggressive measure, without a doubt. The Minnesota Vikings did something similar by firing John DeFillippo a week ago. Based on their 41-17 win over the Miami Dolphins last Sunday, being aggressive sometimes pays.

The Cowboys have arguably the best running back in the NFL in Ezekiel Elliott and yet they continue to misuse him. Whether it's turning their backs on their star tailback or over-using him, this offense has a hard time reaching balance. Dak Prescott's strengths could be exploited even more, but this OC refuses to do so.

As hard as it is to make a drastic change in coaching two weeks before the regular season ends, it truly could end up being a great move by the front office. Sure, Amari Cooper has had monster games since joining the Cowboys, but he could be even more dangerous under another coach.

Cowboys versus Colts was a coaching battle between Scott Linehan and former Dallas Cowboys LB coach, Matt Eberflus. It was the matchup of the week, and one we expected to be fun. Instead, we saw one side completely dominate the other. In the NFL, coaching matters. Probably even more than talent on a roster.

The biggest problem would be, who'd take over play-calling?

Since there isn't a promising candidate within the team, the team's only option would probably be letting HC Jason Garrett take over. It may not be ideal, but it could end up being an improvement over Linehan. Of course, it could also let the front office see what Garrett has to offer as a play caller and consider that when deciding how this coaching staff will look like in 2019.

It's unlikely that we see such a thing occur for the Cowboys, but if the offense has another letdown game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I don't see how the front office doesn't at least consider this. They should.

Tell me what you think about "Takeaway Tuesday: Scott Linehan’s Job Shouldn’t Be Safe" in the comments below, or tweet me @MauNFL and let’s talk football! If you like football and are looking for a Dallas Cowboys show in Spanish, don’t miss my weekly Facebook Live! show, Primero Cowboys!

Ezekiel Elliott Productive in Cowboys Blowout Loss to Colts

It was as ugly of a performance as we’ve seen from the Dallas Cowboys in the Jason Garrett era. For the first time in a decade and a half, the Cowboys were shut out and it was a game full of bad pretty much everywhere you looked. Everywhere accept Ezekiel Elliott.

What a waste!

Elliott and the Cowboys offensive line played well for much of the game even with All-Pro Right Guard Zack Martin missing his first career start and losing starting Left Guard Xavier Su’a-Filo went out with an eye injury.

On the day, Ezekiel Elliott carries the ball 18 times for 87 yards and added another seven receptions for 41. 25 touches for 128 total yards is a good game, but with nothing else going right for the Cowboys it was a game that ultimately didn’t matter.

The one play where Elliott and the offensive line failed to come through was early in the game in a fourth and one that the Colts defense seemed to have snuffed out and blew up from the start. Elliott was able to convert a fourth and one later in the game.It looked like Elliott was close to breaking one for a long run several times but got tripped up at the end of the runs. He was his typical self this week. Taking runs that looked to be going for a loss and turning them into positive gains.

In the race for the NFL's rushing title, Elliott has extended his lead on Todd Gurley to nearly 100 yards rushing. At 1,349 rushing yards on the season, Elliott will have a great shot to set a career high in rushing yards with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants remaining on the schedule. The Bucs have allowed the sixth most rushing yards and the fourth most rushing touchdowns in the NFL this season while the Giants have allowed the fifth most rushing yards and the seventh most rushing touchdowns in 2018.

It was a horrendous loss at a time when the Cowboys could have locked up the NFC East and there is zero excuse for it. They got out coached, out played, and were beaten physically on both sides of the ball and that doesn't happen very often, especially to the defense.

But if we're looking for something positive to take away from this game, it's that with all the offensive line injuries and the poor play of the passing game, Ezekiel Elliott and the running game continues to find ways to shine. With as bad as the loss was, that's something to hang your hat on.

What is there to say about the Dallas Cowboys week 15 performance? After five straight wins, the last three coming at home, the Cowboys have only a return home to look forward to, facing the 5-9 Buccaneers on Sunday after a 23-0 defeat at the Colts.

Shutout for the first time since 2003, the Cowboys playoff hopes didn't take a hit despite the Redskins and Eagles winning on the road. Washington's last-second win went final just before the Colts ran the clock out on a game the Cowboys simply weren't ready for.

The Cowboys moved the ball well at times but failed to ever come away with points, opening the door for the Colts to expose this defense like it hasn't been all season. The Cowboys front four was hardly a factor on defense, allowing Colts Running Back Marlon Mack to average 5.1 yards a carry. Scoring the Colts only touchdowns, Mack and Andrew Luck assured the Cowboys running game wouldn't be a factor with their 10-0 halftime lead. Down to three backups at LG, C, and RG, Quarterback Dak Prescott stood little chance to bring the Cowboys back as the second half quickly got away from Dallas.

Internally, the Cowboys will have much more to say about their effort on Sunday, but here are just a few of my observations in the first somber edition of Sean's Scout since week nine.

The Cowboys defensive problems up front extended well into the second level, with Linebackers Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith both playing one of their worst games of the season.

The Colts took a blocked Brett Maher field goal 44 yards for the game's opening score. Mack accounted for 34 of these yards and the touchdown. On his seven yard run to set up first and goal, Smith was caught taking a poor angle on Mack. The Cowboys were aggressive rushing up the field on the play, with Smith ending up being in the best position to slow Mack.

Vander Esch was sealed and couldn't fight to get off, which happened again three plays later on third and goal. Leighton looking like a rookie for the first time was just the start of the Cowboys problems, and with Sean Lee being active yet conceding starting snaps to him, it shouldn't take long for Vander Esch to figure things out again.

Jamize Olawale's dropped touchdown on third and goal to bring up a failed fourth and one was the moment the Cowboys were taken out of this game.

This sequence was particularly deflating because the Cowboys did a great job getting down the field to have an opportunity to score. The fourth down decision to run out of a heavy formation, inviting extra defenders to the line of scrimmage, looks especially egregious when stacked against the Amari Cooper rush that picked up the Cowboys initial first down. Rookie Tight End Dalton Schultz got involved, Elliott ripped off a 24 yard run, and the Cowboys still came away empty on this drive.

A year removed from coaching the Cowboys linebackers, Colts Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus had his way with Scott Linehan's offense all afternoon, stymieing their most promising drive after Olawale should have scored easily.

The Cowboys only chance to get back in the game was taken away from them by a Joe Looney holding call, just another example of players that had carried them through a winning streak not playing up to standard.

The Colts took the second half kickoff down the field to extend the lead to 17-0. On fourth and two on the ensuing possession, Prescott hit an injured Cole Beasley for 18 yards to the Colts' 23-yard line. The Cowboys red zone offense certainly doesn't provide the confidence that Dallas would finish the drive, but Looney's hold negated Beasley's catch and forced a punt.

The Colts tacked on a field goal and finished out the game without the Cowboys threatening again. Looney played down to the level of Adam Redmond to his left, who replaced Xavier Su'a-Filo, and Connor Williams in for Zack Martin - though I thought Williams held up fairly well and should be in play to earn more snaps wherever needed.

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The Cowboys can regroup and still accomplish everything they set out for this season, forced to make this loss to the Colts and afterthought like their last one to the Titans became. A five game win streak as a response is out of reach, but a streak of just one is all Dallas needs to clinch the NFC East and focus on improvements for the playoffs.

Tell us what you think about "Sean’s Scout: Cowboys Can’t Finish Drives, Division Clinch with Shutout Loss at Colts" in the comments below. You can also email me at Sean.Martin@InsideTheStar.com, or Tweet to me at @SeanMartinNFL!